Encountering “Good Samaritans” in Michigan Before heading out to the Contacta Dealer Event in Grand Rapids, MI, I dutifully checked over the car for road readiness, including adding air to the tires. Not 20 minutes from home, the tire pressure indicator came on, so we pulled over and checked the tires. Nothing seemed amiss, so on we went. As we were approaching Lansing, a passing car slowed down again so that it was beside us. A passenger in the car held up a sign with this note “FLAT TIRE RIGHT REAR” – Good Samaritan #1. We pulled over and set out to change the tire, which thankfully, was not completely flat. I found the jack and the wrench. The spare is mounted under the car and requires one to lower it to the ground to get it out from its hiding place. To lower it, a shaft hidden in a keyhole must be rotated. But where is that keyhole? Let’s read the instructions! The pictures didn’t quite get us to sufficient comprehension and the words were in French! (our car had come from Quebec). We could NOT find that keyhole! Well then, let’s call CAA. While preparing to do so, another car pulled over. A young man came back and asked if we needed help. Well yes, we have a flat tire and don’t know how to get at the spare tire. Well said he, I’ve done one of these before and quite quickly found the keyhole. He stayed to help with the tire change and then went merrily on his way, declining to accept any reward – Good Samaritan #2. With the help of our GPS, we found our way to some “civilization” and turned into a garage that appeared to be open (this was around 5 pm on Cyber Monday). The garage turned out to be Davis Collision Center in East Lansing and it was still open. Could they help us find place to service our tire? Yes indeed. Randy Adams called a tire facility in Okemos, about 15 or more minutes away. They closed at 6 pm and we would be about 20th in line – Good Samaritan #3. Upon our arrival at Discount Tire at about 5;30, we were happily taken in and informed that we could expect a wait of about 3 hours. But you close at 6 pm … “Whoever gets in by 5:40 gets looked after today” Sounds good, but what shall we do for the next 3 hours? There was a mall nearby and on the other side of the mall was “The Olive Garden”, a restaurant that we usually go to in Grand Rapids whenever we go to Grand Rapids. We ate sumptuously and slowly, then strolled the mall, bought gloves for W & me and ventured back to Discount Tire. Shortly after our return, our car was taken inside for service. The flat tire was examined for punctures, cuts – NONE. The seal between the rim and the tire had broken and a slow leak had ensued, likely beginning at home after I had added air to the tires. Once it was determined that the tire had not been damaged by driving on it with low pressure and was still OK, I asked Ken Blake, the Discount Tire manager to finalize the invoice so that I could pay and be ready to roll as soon as the car came off the hoist. We still had another hour or so to go to get to Grand Rapids. Quite excitedly, Ken said, “there’s no charge, just tell everyone about Discount Tire”! Good Samaritan #4. Discount Tire is nationwide in the USA – you don’t have to go to Okemos MI to have a Discount Tire experience.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 02:37:30 +0000
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